Rogers panel OKs logistics firm plans

ROGERS — A company moving to the city has the Planning Commission’s approval for its development plans.

The Planning Commission on Tuesday approved plans for Texas-based logistics company Transplace for an about 150,000-square-foot office building at the northeast corner of Interstate 49 and Magnolia Farms Road in west Rogers. Plans for the project show a three-story building and more than 1,000 parking spaces.

Transplace will move its Lowell operations and employees to the Rogers spot. The Lowell office has about 750 employees, and the plan is to add 400 jobs over three years after Transplace moves into its Rogers office in early 2021, Stephen Dye, account director, said.

The City Council voted in March to issue $46 million in industrial revenue bonds for HCH Holdings, which will lease a building to Transplace. The City Council in June voted to endorse Transplace for the state’s tax-back program, which allows for sales tax rebates on building material. Transplace broke ground on the project in March.

The commission also approved plans for Fresh Roots Family Counseling for a 5,760-square-foot building on about 0.8 acre on West Financial Parkway off of West New Hope Road.

Fresh Roots Family Counseling has been open at its downtown spot for 14 years and is looking to move closer to Interstate 49 because clients come from all over Northwest Arkansas, said Brad Franklin, owner.

“[Interstate] 49 is Main Street, Northwest Arkansas,” Franklin said.

Fresh Roots also has a counseling center in Fort Smith. The center in Rogers has nine counselors, and Franklin said he plans to add four to five more counselors at the new center. Fresh Roots serves children, individual adults and couples for a variety of issues, Franklin said.

Franklin said he’s ready to begin construction immediately and tentatively plans to open the center in April.

The commission also approved a preliminary plat for the third phase of a subdivision, The Ivey’s, off of West Murfield Drive in southwest Rogers. The third phase would add 22 lots for single-family homes on nearly 8 acres.